Blog-seven

Who do you want to become? The 6 Keys to Personal Transformation

I love the beginning of a new year. To me, January is the first beautifully unwritten chapter of 2017 and those blank pages are exhilarating, a fresh start for what we want to create and achieve. It’s a time of renewed clarity for the ways in which we want to be better, what we really want to accomplish, and the initial steps we can take to begin moving in that direction. Most importantly, it is a time to set our intentions for a deeper level of personal transformation.
Who do you want to become in 2017? What changes do you want to make, and what do you want to achieve? When you look back on your year next Christmas, what do you want to see?
These are integral questions because if you commit to the intentions you set today, you could be looking back on an incredible year of personal transformation by the time the holiday season begins next year. Here are six keys to unlock what you need to get started.

Six years ago, I was very aware of all of my character flaws and weaknesses, and had accepted them as part of who I was. I had no idea I could work toward overcoming those areas, and the concept of personal transformation was completely foreign to me.
An unexpected life event suddenly turned my world upside down and launched me into a journey of personal discovery that transformed me from the inside out. This journey continually redefines what’s possible for me, and has significantly impacted the way I approach each new year.

Are you ready to redefine what’s possible for you? It doesn’t have to take a dramatic change in your life for you to begin this journey into personal transformation. It just takes the right questions and the time you need to find your honest answers.

Who do you want to become in 2017? What changes do you want to make, and what do you want to achieve? When you look back on your year next Christmas, what do you want to see?

These are integral questions because if you commit to the intentions you set today, you could be looking back on an incredible year of personal transformation by the time the holiday season begins next year. Here are six keys to unlock what you need to get started.

Alternate Introduction

I love the beginning of a new year. To me, January is the first beautifully unwritten chapter of 2017 and those blank pages are exhilarating, a fresh start for what we want to create and achieve. It’s a time of renewed clarity for the ways in which we want to be better, what we really want to accomplish, and the initial steps we can take to begin moving in that direction. Most importantly, it is a time to set our intentions for a deeper level of personal transformation.

Who do you want to become in 2017? What changes do you want to make, and what do you want to achieve? When you look back on your year next Christmas, what do you want to see?

These are integral questions because if you commit to the intentions you set today, you could be looking back on an incredible year of personal transformation by the time the holiday season begins next year. Here are six keys to unlock what you need to get started.

It all begins with awareness.

Throughout our lives we are subconsciously training our intuition through our experiences and the information we gain from our right and wrong choices. The wiser we get, the stronger our intuition becomes and the more we can trust it. This internal compass is the key to sifting through all of the things we think we want on the surface until we get down to our core, and can finally access the desires kept safely behind lock and key.

This is where your journey begins: identifying the gaps between who you are and who you want to become, the life you’re living and the one you were created to lead. A deeper level of awareness requires stillness, taking the time to pay attention to what your intuition is telling you at every turn, and quieting the noise long enough for you to hear it.

Shift your focus.

So much of our lives is determined by our perspective, but we don’t grow up innately understanding this. Instead, we suffer from “the grass is greener” syndrome, with our focus clouded by discontentment around what we don’t have. To break through to the clarity of what you truly want, shift your focus to the present moment, as imperfect as it may be. Becoming present to each and every moment of your own life transforms your perspective through the level of gratitude, contentment, and appreciation that can lead to a deeper understanding of who you are, and what you need to realize the changes you want most.

There are a variety of lenses through which we see our world, ranging from a victim mentality or the tendency to operate from a place of conflict, to the positive and impactful lenses of compassion, opportunity, and joy. How you look at a situation will either create stress or not, and it’s far more effective to consciously choose how you perceive it instead of defaulting to a negative view. Learning to slow down long enough to be present is learning one of the most integral keys to transformation, one moment at a time.

Let go.

What is holding you back from what you want most in life? It’s too easy to give lip service to wanting change, and it’s even easier to end there, settling for the way things are with no dedication to doing the work involved in actually making that change.

The first step to making sure you’re not in the same place six months from now is to identify what is keeping you in your current situation. Deep down, what are you trying to prove to yourself, or others, before you’ll feel “ready”? Why are you settling for situations in your life that are far less than your ideal? What character flaws have you been allowing to limit you?

Your current approach to the external circumstances of your everyday life can be very reflective of what is holding you back from personal transformation. Take a close look behind the situations you want to change, and keep digging deeper until you uncover what you need to let go. Then, and most importantly, begin releasing those things until you feel the freedom you need to finally move forward.

Understand your inner critic.

Your inner critic can be the most powerful force that is holding you back - and one that is not easily silenced. Its message tends to be some variation of “you’re not good enough,” and was created in the earlier stages of your life to keep you safe. Now, it blocks the path to your intuition and can create the kind of fear that keeps you small, stunting your growth and making you feel like you really aren’t good enough to make the changes in your life that you so desperately desire and deserve.

The most important strategy is to understand your inner critic’s message. Not only is it consistent, but it typically shows up in almost every area of your life. As soon as you’re aware of what it’s telling you, you’ll begin to recognize how it’s holding you back and can begin to manage it. The best approach is not to resist it. Remember, it was created to protect you, so simply acknowledge that it’s trying to keep you safe, remind yourself that it doesn’t serve you in this situation, and step into the belief that you are good enough, smart enough, worthy enough - whatever the opposite of its message may be.

Make the best decisions for you in those defining moments.

The fact that you’re reading this indicates that you value personal transformation. What led you here, to this blog post, at this specific moment of our life? What does transformation look like for you? Are you ready to do the work to make this a reality?

If you’re at a crossroads in your life, and we all are at some point, you have a lot of defining moments in your very near future. Your responses to the situation and the path you choose will define the next chapter of your life, and this makes the choices you make incredibly important. As Glennon Doyle Melton says, “you’re not what just happened to you, but you could be what you do next.” This is the time in your life to tap into your highly trained intuition, quieting the well-meaning voices all around you so you can rely on that still, small voice that will tell you the next right thing for you to do.

Do the work, and do it with a coach.

We’re all well aware of the drastic difference that stereotypically separates a January mentality from your slipping focus in February. In order to achieve personal transformation you have to do the work for at least three months to see sustainable results, and this is one of the many reasons to work with a life coach.

A coach can help you peel back the layers of your life to identify what is holding you back, help you manage your inner critic, and then most importantly, work closely with you to create the positive changes and extraordinary results that can help you move forward into who and where you want to be. It truly is the fastest and most effective path to personal transformation.

Shannon Arnold is a Relationship Coach and writer based in Los Angeles. Her goal is to help people break through what is holding them back from the personal and professional relationships they dream of and deserve. http://www.journeyingintojoy.com/

BrightCoach is a company of talented, experienced, business and personal life coaches, dedicated to helping our clients achieve their desired goals through guided personal development and lasting, sustainable change.
We work closely with our clients to help them move forward in a unique one-on-one Coaching
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